Disjointed Heart

Chapter Eight

It had been a few days since Chester and Ryan had met and Mike had noticed an improvement in the blonde's mood. Since then, he had been less jumpy and more trusting of Mike, which was a good sign and it gave the deliverer a chance to finally try and dig something out of Chester's past.

He was determined to at least press a little so he could understand a bit of why Chester was the way he was. Of course, he wouldn't insist too much, he didn't want the blonde to draw away from him and go back to square one.

With a deep breath, he gave his three usual knocks on Chester's door and waited only a few seconds until the blonde opened the door, wider than he ever had before, showing his entire body and not only his head like all the other times.

"Hey!" Chester's smile was bright as he greeted Mike, who smiled at the sight of him, his heart beating fast.

He thought about telling him that he should definitely be smiling more, but he was afraid that the blonde man would take it as an insult. Instead, he leaned the cup toward Chester gently.

"How are you today?"

"I'm great actually. I was able to finish translating a book that I've been working on for weeks."

"Wow, that's great."

The other man nodded before he swallowed his pill, opening his mouth so Mike could see that it wasn't still in his mouth.

"Have you... seen Ryan since we went to his place?"

Chester's eyes widened at the mention of Ryan's name and Mike froze for an instant. Shit, maybe he shouldn't have mentioned the other man at all... He was pretty curious, but if it meant that the blonde man would stop being so joyful, it wasn't worth it.

"No, I ... We talked on the phone once, b-but that's... about it."

"Oh, okay. You look like you'd want to see him again."

The blonde man lowered his head as a faint blush appeared on his cheeks and Mike felt his stomach twisted in knots, before he frowned. The half Asian had no reason to be reacting this way.

"You were pretty close to Ryan before, right?" He tried, hoping that Chester wouldn't be offended to talk back to when he was at the clinic.

"Y-yes... he..." he blushed even harder, his face completely red. "He was my only friend." He finished, gulping. Mike couldn't help but wonder why he had been so nervous to say the word 'friend'. Did they have an affair?, Mike thought, his stomach turning once again. It's not your damn business, Michael! Get your shit together.

"Oh, that's nice." The deliverer forced a smile, cursing himself mentally for being so affected by Ryan and Chester's relationship. He felt like an outsider. "When did you two meet?" he asked casually, trying not to seem nosy as he leaned against the doorway, Chester taking a step back and scratching his head.

"When I got into the clinic he was already there and we just... got along. He was the only one who tried to talk to me. We were pretty young, thirteen and sixteen." Chester crossed his arms over his chest as if he was hugging himself, a small smile in his lips as he let the memories fly through his mind.

"You were so young... what happened?" Mike said before he could contain himself and regretted the second the words left his mouth as the blonde's face fell. "I'm sorry... I didn't mean to be intrusive. You don't have to answer." The half Asian quickly added, waving his hands frantically around, making Chester chuckle lightly, the sound making his heart flutter.

"I... just hate talking about it. I'm sorry..." He said stepping back again. "I... think I better get to work... we'll talk more tomorrow, Mike. Thanks again for everything." He closed the door before Mike could react and soon the money was slipped under the door.